Dogs don't need to eat every day. If the dog is not lethargic why worry about it? Since you are feeding raw what do wild dogs do? Gorge then take a few days to digest. As long as you are not seeing weirdness in your dog it's ok.

Granted, here's the reason for my concern. General raw feeding guidelines suggest 5% of a pups bodyweight each day, so at 86 pounds she should theoretically eat 4lbs/day - give or take. I'd be willing to bet she hasn't eaten 20lbs of food in the last 14 days.

Perhaps I'm overly cautious at this point as we just discovered our breeder was a total scam artist. Her father is EPI+ and her mother had a forged PennHip sheet (mother actually has severe hip displaysia).

Vet says she's okay, her behaviour apart from eating suggests she's okay - maybe I'm just paranoid.

Hi Andy,

My friend and dog training partner also has a 9-month-old cane corso. She eats everything he gives her and wants more but she always looks very thin (at least to me). She is about 60-65 pounds right now which seems a little small for this breed (father was 140lbs. and mother was 120lbs.).

I don't know how to get your pup to eat more but it sounds like she's developing well at 86 pounds. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Here is something else to consider, Does this breed eat alot in general? I have worked some in obedience but that is it. I know that some of the bigger breeds do not eat proportionally to their size, like the anatolian shepherd.

I have a 10 week old Presa Pup. He is about 20 lbs and I have been feeding him raw as well.

For one reason or another, he recently just lost his enthusiasm for the veggie mix I made for him. It takes a lot to get him to eat it all. I think that they just go through phases where they don't eat as much.

I am not sure that I would be feeding him 4lbs though. That is a whole lot of food. All of the guidelines I have seen suggest feeding about 2% of the dogs FINAL weight for the entire lifespan of the dog. That way pups get more proportionately to their body weight and adults get enough food. So, I would recommend feeding between 2-3lbs of food total. Also, I would quit feeding the EVO. While evo is a great kibble, it is just that--kibble. What do you feel that EVO is supplementing? Whatever it is, you can easily get that nutrient from a natural source. The kibble expands in the stomach, which could make the dog feel sick to his stomach when he typically eats RAW.

Other than that, I would just leave the food down for 10 mins or so--I leave it down until I realize that my pup has not paid attention to it for 5-10 mins and then I remove it. Pups are easily distracted--even when eating. Dogs are "oportunistic carnivores"--when they are hungry, they will eat ANYTHING they can. dont sweat it unless you start realizing a problem.

Joseph

We'd been feeding a commerically prepared raw food originally. The recommendations from them were 5% of a pup's bodyweight per day. According to the Barfworld.com folks, it's 10% of a pup's weight per day with special attention paid to large-breed health and condition. At 5% Suka maintained a steady weight gain of ~10lbs/month and has never been over-weight.

We added the Evo as simply something different from time to time. It makes for a nice backup in the event we run short of food before the local farmer's market opens for the weekend. Yeah it's kibble as opposed to raw, but at least it's not Iams. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

It's not so much that she's not eating her alotted amount of food, rather that her eating habits have changed so drastically and instantaneously. One idea put forth on a different board was that she may be going into heat. I'm not nearly dog-smart enough to know if there might be any connection between the two or not.